Celebrating freedom
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(Editor's note: The following contains excerpts from historical documents, and includes descriptions of people that are understood to be outdated and would not be used today.)
"Juneteenth" has been celebrated in the United States as a federal holiday since June 19, 2021. The date commemorates the 1865 arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston to enforce the abolition of slavery. Texas held the first Juneteenth celebration in 1866, and it has continued every year, initially as a Southern tradition.
An even earlier celebration of freedom has been observed in many Northern states. On Sept. 22, 1863, Ohioans celebrated Emancipation Day for the first time and maintained the event well into the 20th Century. The September date marks President Abraham Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued on Sept. 22, 1862. His order gave Confederate states one hundred days to return to the Union, or all enslaved people in those states would be "thenceforward and forever free." The states did not respond, and the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863.
What is believed to be the longest continuously running celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation has been held every year beginning Sept.r 22, 1863, in Gallia County, Ohio. Washington County also observed the date at an early time. Though it was not reported as an Emancipation Day event, a lecture was given at the courthouse by John M. Langston, a prominent African-American abolitionist, educator, and politician, on Sept. 29, 1863. Langston sought funds to support recruitment of Black soldiers to serve the Union with the "1st Ohio Colored Regiment," made possible by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The "eloquent speech" was well attended and $260 was raised.
Langston returned in 1864 for an "Emancipation Anniversary" on Harmar Hill, held in August, that included dinner and a festival. On Sept. 22, 1865, Washington County's first official Emancipation Day celebration featured the Rev. Thomas Ferguson as speaker. Ferguson was founder of Albany Enterprise Academy in Athens, one of the first Black institutions of higher learning in the country. The audience consisted of "about 200 colored and 50 white."
Washington County's Black community, joined by people of all races, continued to commemorate Emancipation Day for many years. Locations varied to include Vincent, Fleming, Cutler, Belpre, Beverly, Harmar, and Marietta. Crowds heard stirring speeches and enjoyed picnics of boiled ham, chicken, ice cream, pie, and lemonade, but "nothing stronger than sweet cider." Drum corps "waked the woods" with sound and there was dancing to the music of violins and bass viols. In 1874, the German Band from Marietta enlivened festivities, and in 1916, guests were treated to a vocal performance by Rachael Walker, a Black prima donna soprano. Half-fare excursion trains provided transportation from Marietta and Parkersburg to outlying communities. The last Emancipation Day event attended by the late Black historian, Henry Burke, took place at the Washington County Fairgrounds in 1945. Burke recalled, "There were more black people there than I have ever seen, before or since, at one time in Marietta. Many white people also stood around on the fringes of the crowd with their hats off as the minister offered his prayer of thanks to God." In 2006, Gov. Robert Taft signed legislation declaring Sept. 22 as "Emancipation Day" in Ohio.
While most freedom celebrations are now held on Juneteenth, the deathblow dealt to slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation, and the long tradition of community celebrations in its honor, are not forgotten.
Linda Showalter is a member of WCHS. To learn more about Washington County Historical Society services and membership, call 740-373-1788 or visit wchshistory.org